Ok, I’ve been using Cubase 7 since day one and it’s been fine. I updated to 7.01 without problems. I may have got the occasional spike where the ASIO meter red LED would light but barely a stutter worth mentioning. On the 18th I updated to 7.02 and just recently I’ve been getting regular CPU spiking and stuttering, totally random. A project might run for minutes, then bam! A couple of times it has gone into a perpetual stutter and I’ve had to hard reboot my PC.
I’ve tried everything I can think of to track it down. I’ve been demoing HALion 4 so the first thing I tried was running my project with that dis-enabled. Same. Then I tried disabling UAD plug-ins. Same. Then I tried removing my PowerCore Access Virus and PowerCore plug-ins. Same. I’ve tried with ASIO Guard on/off and I’ve tried varying latency settings. No difference.
Frankly I’m at a loss and this is seriously spoiling my enjoyment.
I read that I could uninstall/change updates and get back to 7.01 by going to Control Panel, view installed updates, where it says: " To uninstall an update, select it from the list and then click Uninstall or Change", but for some reason this doesn’t work. I double click Cubase 7.02 64 bit Update from the list and nothing happens. I get the option to uninstall update with other updates but not the Cubase 7.02 64 bit Update. Odd!
I can do a system restore back to the 15th Feb but this will also remove HALion 4 demo, which I would like to avoid if possible.
Anyone got any suggestions? Anyone else with similar problems??
Ok, in an attempt to get to the bottom of this problem I’ve reinstalled Cubase 6.5.4, which did load the same C7.02 project, which, incidentally, is only 13 tracks with an average of less than 20% ASIO load.
Sadly I’m still getting random CPU spikes and some stuttering. The only other change I’ve recently made that I can think of is to update eLicencer to the latest version.
Is anyone else using eLicencer v 6.5.4.1117? This is the very latest version.
I can’t find anyway to roll back to 6.5.4.1116 to see if this makes any difference. Anyone got it? Logically, that could be the culprit as I’m using the same hardware I’ve been using for years.
I’ve got the same thing. I’ve just tried the C7 trial, loaded my active project, and horrible spikes all over one Omnisphere instance that’s been fine until now. Doubled the RME buffer size - no difference. Closed C7 and opened C6.0.7 - now with exactly the same glitches. The C7 trial has broken C6.
Will need a very quick fix on this, delivering a project early tomorrow. I’ve had elicenser-related issues in the past, could be that, all ideas gratefully received.
EDIT - decided I can’t be mucking about with this and simply system restored. C6 now playing fine again. Won’t be touching the C7 trial again til this is sorted out…
That’s interesting. Are you running Cubase in x64? I ask because up until Cubase 7 I have been running purely 32 bit and after re-installing Cubase 6.5.4 Yesterday (but this time in x64) I find that is also CPU spiking, with the same project. Curious!
I’ve been doing some research (Google “Cubase CPU spiking”, there’s loads going back to 2011) and this seems to be an ongoing issue for a good many people, though judging by the lack of responses to this thread not everyone.
If I was new to this and just installing Cubase for the first time I would be questioning my hardware, but I’ve been producing for 18 years. had the same sound card for about 10 years, this PC for 3 years and UAD and PowerCore for many years. Never had this problem before.
There is no magic about this. There must be a logical explanation. I’ve tried just about everything I can thing of, including some things I’ve learned from my research but nothing stops the spiking. I’m even considering reformatting my PC and starting from scratch. If that doesn’t work I may have to consider demoing some other DAW’s, which I don’t really want to do as I really like and know Cubase. I’ve had HALion 4 on order from Digital Village but just cancelled that until when/if I can get this resolved.
Just one last thing. Can you check if your eLicencer version is v6.5.4.1117?
Thanks for that, all contributions are most welcome. But yes, the DPC app shows my PC to be in the green, constant and well within speck for streaming audio.
I seem to have found a satisfactory solution, for now. I said earlier that I cancelled my order with Digital Village for HALion 4, so I went into my project and bounced the HALion tracks to audio and then removed HAlion 4 demo from my project altogether. Since then I have had no spiking and no stuttering and all seems fine. Now I’m not saying that HALion 4 is faulty, just that removing it appears to have cleared the problem and has remained so for several hours now. Lucky for me that Digital Village didn’t have it in stock or I would be £220 down and stuck with it.
I also noticed, from my research, that others have had similar issues with heavy CPU VSTi instruments like Omnisphere, even with high speck Computers.
Maybe HALion 4 was a little over-kill for my needs anyway. I don’t really care for huge sample libraries. All I really want is a decent x64 soft sampler with standard facilities (filters, LFO’s, envelops etc) with about 8 outs that will allow me to load my own samples and and Rex files.
But anyway, I’m feeling much more relaxed now and I’ve learned a few things along the way.
Thanks to everyone who has taken the trouble to comment.
Yeah, I’ve seen that, but open your eLicenser Control Center and in the top left it should say (eLC Version 6.5.4.117) if you have the latest update. However this is all academic now since I’ve eliminated this has having any bearing on the issue.
I have basically the same here. Just started a work in 7.0 (just few tracks) and and now I have a session with a singer scheduled to tomorrow but work with this project in 7.0.2 is almost impracticable.
What VSTi’s are do you have in play? I’ve removed HALion 4 out of the equation and just had 8 trouble-free, productive hours, like a breath of fresh air. Save your work and try removing the CPU heavy instruments one at a time, and I don’t mean just disarm them or freeze them. Remove then completely from your project. Bounce them first maybe. This has worked like a charm for me.
Needless to say, I wont be buying HALion 4 until this is sorted out.
It’s worth mentioning that, even with HALion 4 in play my ASIO load was less than 20% on average.
Yes, very frustrating, but there must be a logical reason. Try googling “Cubase CPU spiking”. I learned a few tips that way, though nothing worked for me until I ditched HALion demo.
Think Occhams Razor. What have you changed recently?
I don’t know if this is relevant, but I found a lot of improvement when I turned off Asio Guard. Plus I have recently connected my computer to the internet to update windows and I felt that this also improved things. Thinking about this it is obvious that Steinberg would be developing C7 using the latest versions of windows, so it stands to reason there might be problems with an older version.
I’m sure this is not a VST related issue! I used the same plugins in 6.5 with no freeze tracks and about 25 instrument loaded plus some fx channels with 3rd party plugins for EQ, comp, delay, Limiter, etc, with NO ISSUES.
Did you say that you have dis-engaged Asio Guard?
Do you use Kontakt?
I have had considerable issues with Kontakt in C7.
I had the techs at Native Instruments peruse my computer and they suggested that I disable multi cores on Kontakt as it conflicts with enable multi cores in Cubase. That really did make a difference to me running Session Drummer in Kontakt. I did not have as noticeable a problem in 6.5. Given that Steinberg have changed the mixer in C7 so much there must be quite a change to architecture of Cubase and a possible change in the way it reacts to vst’s.
I know it is a very unusual issue, more so in that it doesn’t appear to effect everyone. I have spent many hours trying to pin-point it’s exact cause, including searching the web for information and trying different suggestions. At one point I disengaged all the VST’s in my project and played through my project, which yielded no CPU spiking. Right I thought, now I’m getting somewhere… I then engaged my plug-ins one by one (including HALion) until they were all engaged. And guess what? No spiking! I tested for about two hours and couldn’t make the project spike.
I then closed and reopened Cubase 7.02 and… you guessed it. Spiking was back. How odd is that?
So I can only report what has worked for me, and no, I cannot explain it. I’m hoping someone else can because I don’t do superstition
Are you using Cubase x64 or 32? And what version of eLicenser are you at?
There are so many permutations of hardware and software on PCs that this kind of problem is a pain to track down. It is also made worse by all the permutations of plugins etc. The only logical way to really solve this is I believe to get everyone who has the problem to compare system specs. in great detail including all hardware and software setups. Ultimately that should find a common factor but it is a laborious task!
I have tested with ASIO Guard on and off and I’ve tried varying latency settings and I’ve tried with and without Multi Cores engaged, none of which makes any difference.
I don’t own Kontakt and I have little interest in huge patch libraries. What appealed to me about HALion is the ability to drag files into it from the arrange page, or from the desk top and medi bay.
The more people we can get engaging this the thread the better the chance we have at making some head way I think.
CPU’s should not spike for no reason. If you’re running a relatively light project and notice your ASIO meter regularly turning red then you’re getting CPU spiking even if you don’t get stuttering. The question is, why? And did this happen with previous versions of Cubase?
Like I say, d.itching HALion 4 seems to be working for me now but I’m still intrigued. I’m quite sure that HALion is not faulty, so what the hell is going on here?
Well solving problems is the best use of forums, isn’t it? Trouble is, people tend not to be concerned unless they are being adversely affected in some way related to the issue being discussed.
But as I say, anyone getting regular red lights on the ASIO meter with light projects is affected to some degree. The ASIO meter should not peg for no reason,
Of course yes, I just meant that if those of you experiencing these problems were to specify your setups you may find the commonality that is the cause. I actually got thinking about this and as a programmer I wondered about writing a program to compare two people’s machines for this purpose - could be usefl
